Valerie Bloom showed some impressive balancing skills as she entertained pupils in Hounslow with tales of her Jamaican childhood.
The award-winning poet visited Hounslow's Paul Robeson Theatre yesterday (Tuesday, October 21) to read her Jamaican Patois infused verse to about 260 children from primary and secondary schools across the borough.
She even balanced a backpack on her head as she recited Pinda Cake, mimicking the traders who sold tempting spiced confections by the school gates during her youth.
The writer grew up in Jamaica and came to the UK in the late 70s. She worked as a teacher before devoting herself full-time to poetry.
Hounslow School Library organised yesterday's readings, accompanied by a crash course in Jamaican Patois, which gives her poetry its distinct flavour.
The two sessions, one for primary and one for secondary school pupils, both ended with the poet taking questions from youngsters before signing their books.
